


I can tell that we are going to be friends

by sagansjagger



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, adrien agreste/cupcakes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:54:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25811668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sagansjagger/pseuds/sagansjagger
Summary: While Ladybug kicks his butt during their weekly video game session, Adrien realizes he has to treasure his friendship with her and pack it away into his heart like a precious jewel.Featuring heart-to-heart conversations about identities, superhero guilt, and fame, as well as Adrien Agreste/cupcakes.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 16
Kudos: 34
Collections: August 2020 - Exchange





	I can tell that we are going to be friends

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theriveroflight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theriveroflight/gifts).



> Given to [theriveroflight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theriveroflight/pseuds/theriveroflight/works?fandom_id=582724) in the August fic exchange on the [Miraculous Fanworks](https://discord.gg/mlfanworks) Discord server. If you are interested in participating in organized, server-wide events with a community of like-minded people, join today!

Adrien and Ladybug were friends.

His crush used to burn bright as a raging inferno inside him, but now… Now that they’d started just hanging out together platonically, he’d intentionally banked the fire. Once he realized how good of a friend Ladybug was to him, the embers of Adrien’s ardor cooled. 

Their friendship had started out very simply: Adrien wanted to thank her for saving his life, so he invited her to come visit him in his room at night before patrol and play video games. He was shocked to find that she kicked his butt at Ultimate Mecha Strike III, giving him a real challenge and making him scramble to defend himself. But he shouldn’t have expected any less; Ladybug was awesome in all that she did.

She was kicking his butt now.

“So,” Adrien said, trying to distract her from executing another flawless triple-kick combo on him. He was terrible at blocking because he’d only ever played against the AI and that wasn’t enough to keep him on his toes like Ladybug did. “I know we’ve discussed something similar before, but I think I have a new angle on the conversation…”

Ladybug grunted, her gloved fingers flying over the buttons. He stole a peek at her, reveling in the determined cast in her eyes. It was almost the same as when she was facing down an akuma. She gave Adrien all her attention and brought her A game every time, and he loved it. “Yes, Adrien?”

Clearly he’d have to step up his game in distracting her. “What do you think of superhero guilt?”

Ladybug’s mech landed a solid punch on his, followed up by a low kick. “What do you mean?”

“I mean… Say I was a superhero, too--” 

“You were,” Ladybug said, blinking. He was watching her more than the screen, so he wasn’t able to block her attack in time. “You were Aspik.”

Adrien flinched. He tried very hard not to think of his time as Aspik, tried to compartmentalize the twenty-five thousand nine hundred and thirteen times he’d tried and failed to save his friend. He wasn’t thinking about that until Ladybug mentioned it, and now being Aspik was all he could think about.

He didn’t want to.

“Oh, right,” Adrien said, tempted to take his hands off his controller to rub the back of his neck. “Haha, yeah, I was Aspik. But yeah, if I were a permanent holder, say like, I were Chat Noir or something--”

Ladybug giggled, startling him and cutting him off. “You couldn’t be Chat Noir.”

Adrien threw a Catouken at her for that. “I couldn’t?”

A smile curved Ladybug’s lips. “No way. You’re much more earnest than he is. He has no sense of comedic timing, throwing puns in the middle of battle, but you’d take the superhero business much more seriously.” Her smile turned thoughtful. “Though he hasn’t flirted with me in a long time, which has been nice.”

Adrien pursed his lips as he tried and failed to pull a combo off on Ladybug’s mech. “Maybe he thought you were better off as friends.”

“Maybe, yeah,” Ladybug said, nodding. She attempted to punish Adrien’s character, but he blocked and counterattacked. “That would be a good thing, I think.”

“Anyway,” Adrien said, clearing his throat. “Say I _was_ Chat Noir,” he said, ignoring Ladybug’s disbelieving snort. “I’d feel pretty dang guilty for keeping my secret from you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… my identity as Chat Noir,” Adrien said, frowning a little. He noticed the way her silver, hexagonal patterns on her suit glinted in the pale moonlight. “You’re not compromised--I don’t know who you are under the mask--but I’d be… remiss if I didn’t tell you who I was. Like having a friendship under false pretenses.”

Ladybug paused the game. She set her controller in her lap and turned to face him, nibbling her lower lip. He could smell the sweet aromas of mint and sugar on her breath as she leaned into his space and exhaled. “If… If you were Chat Noir, I wouldn’t want you to tell me.”

Adrien set his controller on the table. “Really?”

“Nope,” Ladybug said, glancing at his orange, Gabriel-brand shoes. “As superheroes, I’m not supposed to know anything about Chat. And you’re--he’s not supposed to know anything about me.” She looked up and gave him a tremulous smile. “Don’t get me wrong, I trust Chat with my life. But if you were him… I’d feel like I couldn’t give my all in battle, because I’d be worried about my friend getting hurt.”

Adrien furrowed his brow. He felt the couch cushion give under his weight as he shifted his legs. “Is Chat not your friend?”

“Of course yo--he is, Adrien,” Ladybug said, gesturing as if to take in all of him. “But it’s different, because Chat and I are coworkers. We have a different relationship than you and I have as friends.”

She let the words sink in, and as he turned them over in his head, he tapped his chin. That cut off ‘you’ was the second time she’d slipped up, and he’d begun to wonder if she suspected his identity but was just afraid to confirm it.

He decided he could live with that. She could understand him as a whole person and be his friend on both sides of the mask. He’d like that.

“Okay, Ladybug,” Adrien said, smiling at her. “We can be friends.”

Ladybug’s shoulders sagged, as if she’d been holding them tightly. He hadn’t noticed they were tense until she loosened them. 

“Thanks, Adrien,” she said, dropping her hand into her lap to rest on her controller. “Speaking of superhero guilt… I worry sometimes that I’m putting you in danger.”

“Putting me in danger?” Adrien said, tilting his head. He was Chat Noir. He was already in danger. 

“Yes,” Ladybug said, casting her gaze off the couch. He followed it, but he saw nothing except the table where his controller rested. “If Hawkmoth ever got wind of me meeting you as a civilian, he could target you and your family to get to me.”

Adrien’s eyes shot open. _Nathalie knows martial arts, doesn’t she? But would she be able to hold her own against an akuma? And my father…_ He scrubbed his hands over his face. “I didn’t think of that.”

He was horrified to think of the possibility that Ladybug wouldn’t be visiting him anymore. That she’d not play video games anymore or bring him croissants from the Dupain-Cheng bakery. That he’d have to go back to his sad, lonely existence without a friend.

Ladybug nodded, a frown twisting her lips. “I want to continue to be your friend, Adrien. But… We’ll just have to be careful, okay?”

“I agree,” Adrien said, jumping on the chance to have things remain the same. “You can visit me anytime you like, but we should probably keep the visits to nights, when I won’t be checked on and you won’t be… spotted.”

She groaned, and then threw her head back and laughed.

He beamed at Ladybug, wondering how he could have been so lucky to have made a friend like her. And he’d almost ruined it as Chat by trying to woo her in an overbearing way. That was an awful mistake, one he planned to fix.

If he could be her friend as Adrien Agreste, he could be her friend as Chat Noir.

“I’m glad we’re friends,” he said, beaming at her. “Your visiting with me is fun.”

He used to be so lonely before. And that she’d come to hang out with him made the nights much more bearable. She didn’t always come every night, but she came at least once a week. Adrien treasured her visits like the jewels they were.

“I’m glad we’re friends, too,” Ladybug said, and then unwound her yo-yo from around her waist. “I’ve brought something for you.”

Adrien practically bounced in his seat. “Ooh, what is it this time?”

“A cupcake,” Ladybug said, back to grinning, “from your favorite bakery.”

“Yessss,” Adrien said, pumping his fist. “I love the Dupain-Cheng bakery. And Marinette is great. Thanks, Ladybug!”

“No problem,” Ladybug said, inserting her hand into the white space that served as a portal in her magic yo-yo. Adrien wiggled in his seat as she pulled out two cupcakes: vanilla with strawberry frosting and red velvet with chocolate frosting. She set them on the coffee table, one right after the other. “Which one do you want?”

“Oh, you know me,” Adrien said, already reaching for his preferred treat. The bittersweet fragrance of the chocolate frosting wafted up to him, and he took a great inhale of the cupcake he’d picked, savoring it like a wine connoisseur would a fine vintage. “I love chocolate anything.”

Ladybug chuckled, returning the yo-yo to her waist. She carefully peeled the wrapper off her strawberry-frosted cupcake. Adrien did the same for his and stuffed the whole thing in his mouth. 

His eyelids fluttered closed; the rich, luscious frosting coated his palate and teeth. Most of the flavor of the chocolate was found in the cocoa butter, and as the frosting melted in his mouth, releasing the sweet, nutty notes, he nearly moaned. The cake was moist and tender, a decadent contrast to the frosting, with subtle flavors of cocoa and coffee.

He chewed and swallowed, luxuriating in the special treat, and opened his eyes when Ladybug giggled at him. “Watching you eat is an _experience_ ,” she said, taking a dainty bite of her own cupcake. She chewed and swallowed. “It’s great.”

Adrien gave her a chocolatey grin. “Thank you so much, Ladybug. You always bring me the best treats.”

“How could I not?” Ladybug said, setting her cupcake aside on the coffee table. “You’re always so grateful. And you seem to enjoy them so much.”

“I definitely do,” Adrien said, eyeing her cupcake. He wasn’t going to eat it, but he was always surprised at how other people didn’t just... stuff their faces when offered such an opportunity at deliciousness. 

Ladybug picked up her controller, and Adrien followed suit. “Three, two, one…” she said, and unpaused the game. Unused to defending himself, Adrien was slow to pick up on what moves she was throwing at him, and quickly lost the match. Ladybug started another one with his consent.

“So tell me, Adrien Agreste,” she said, effortlessly gaining the upper hand in the new match. “What do you want to do with your life?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean you’re fourteen now, right?” Ladybug said, and he nodded. Her character grabbed and threw his off the platform, scoring a ring-out. “And you’re a model. But is that what you want to do when you grow up?”

“Not really,” Adrien said, preparing himself for the next round as the timer counted down. “I don’t have any attachment to modeling. Photoshoots are long and annoying, and I can’t picture myself doing this as a career. Nor do I want to work in the business side of things.”

She gave him an expectant look before the countdown ended, so he decided to spill what was on his mind. He hesitated. “But… while I know what I _don’t_ want to do, I don’t exactly know what I want to do either.” He cracked a grin. “Maybe thief-y cat assassin with a heart of gold?”

Rather than laughing, Ladybug gave him a skeptical look. “No, I don’t see it.” The round started, and they battled each other for a few minutes before she spoke again. “Maybe a voice actor? You’ve done that before.”

“I could,” Adrien said, blasting her mech with a Catouken. “That could work, because I know how it works. But like photoshoots, there’s a lot of long nights and my schedule is not my own.”

“What about a teacher?”

“Teaching would be fun, yeah,” Adrien said, being tackled on the screen. “I could teach physics.” He tilted his head, thinking hard. “I could also be a social worker. Or a volunteer kitten parent.”

Ladybug shot him a grin, which he caught out of the corner of his eye. “Volunteer kitten parent?”

“Oh, sure,” Adrien said, laughing. “I’d bring home litter after litter, and my roommates would be like, ‘No. Please. Stop. Desist. You’re terrible.’”

Ladybug wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think they’d call you terrible.”

“With all the litter boxes around the house? Yeah, they would.”

Ladybug hummed thoughtfully before smashing her mech’s mechanical fist into his mech’s cat-like head. “So you would have roommates?”

“Of course,” Adrien said, ducking her throw and countering with a low kick. “Being alone in this huge room is terrible. I would love to live with other people.”

“Other people can be… difficult,” Ladybug said, blocking his assault.

Adrien leaned forward, eager to hear more. She so rarely shared details about her own life that he treasured any scrap of information she’d give him. “I shouldn’t be asking this, but do you have siblings?”

“No,” Ladybug said, shaking her head. Adrien had fought hard, but she had chipped away at his health for the entire round. The last combo finished him. “I don’t have siblings.”

“What was that comment about then?”

Ladybug blew her bangs out of her eyes as she waited for the timer to count down to the start of the next round. “You’re famous, right? You deal with people wanting your attention all the time.”

Adrien paused the game as soon as the timer was done, so he could devote all his attention to her. He set his controller aside and turned to face her. “And fame is making your life difficult?”

“Sort of,” Ladybug said, nibbling her lower lip. She looked hesitant, and Adrien brutally stuffed the desire to strangle whoever had made her that way. “People tend to post… things online. Like pictures of my butt and chest and legs. I’m supposed to be a superhero, you know? Not an… an object to ogle.”

“Ladybug,” Adrien whispered, his eyes widening. “I had no idea.” He blinked at her. “I mean, yeah, that happens to me, too, and it seriously sucks. It’s demeaning and it makes me feel like less of a person, you know?”

“Yeah,” Ladybug said, her gaze softening. “I know. How do you deal with it?”

“I try to remember that the opinions of a vocal minority don’t define me,” Adrien said, wrinkling his nose. “And I definitely don’t look at those online posts.” He sighed. “I’m in the public eye for an entirely different reason than you, though. People are meant to take pictures of me and ogle my body. It’s unfair that you’re a target for salacious posts because what you do is so much more important than how you look.”

Ladybug smiled a little. “I’m glad you get this, Adrien. It’s so nice to talk to someone who understands. But I’m sorry that you have to go through it as well.”

Adrien returned her expression with a small smile of his own. “Yeah. I’m sorry we both do.”

“I apologize for complaining.”

“No, no, no, no, no,” Adrien said, wind-milling his hands. “That’s what friends are for, right? To listen to what we’re struggling with and offer empathy and advice? I can’t fix the problem, but I’m glad that I could at least listen.”

Ladybug’s smile grew wider. “Thanks, Adrien. I’m so glad we’re friends.”

“Yeah,” Adrien said, his eyes narrowing in pleasure as he beamed at her. “Me, too.”

**Author's Note:**

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> 
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> 
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